


Everything

by BreezeTheMorningLight



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23159191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreezeTheMorningLight/pseuds/BreezeTheMorningLight
Summary: Luke and Penelope finally get to go on that first date.
Relationships: Luke Alvez/Penelope Garcia
Comments: 14
Kudos: 148





	Everything

**Author's Note:**

> What follows are my own hopes and dreams for Penelope and Luke's first date. I'm going to leave it open for more chapters down the road, but I haven't added to it yet!

She adjusts the hem of her dress against her thighs, tugging it down to ensure that none of her bits are showing. She wants him looking at her, oh does she ever, but she doesn’t want to be indecent about it. 

She turns in a slow circle in front of her full-length mirror, gazing at her reflection. She’d opted for a red dress from the back of her closet. It’s simpler than her normal attire, but it hugs her body and ends mid-thigh, perfect for their first date. The silky material of the dress feels like heaven against her freshly washed and shaven skin. She doesn’t plan on bringing him back here after dinner, no, but she wouldn’t mind his rough hand on her soft thigh while they sit close over a shared meal.

She leans in close to the mirror and dabs her index finger over the top of her cupids bow. She checks her finger, smiling when she confirms that her lipstick is dry. “Of course it’s dry,” she mutters to herself. She’s been applying lipstick since she was 15, but something about tonight...about him, makes her nervous. 

A shiver runs down her spine when a knock sounds from the front of her apartment. She takes a deep breath, hands clenched into fists at her sides. “You’ve got this,” she tells herself, stretching her fingers out. 

“Coming,” she calls out to the man standing outside her door. She slides her feet into a pair of black and white open-toe heels and shuffles towards the door. 

She pulls the door open and somehow her nervous energy dissipates into something more subdued with one look at his gorgeous face. “Hi,” she greets him, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. 

He responds with a smile before he pulls a small bouquet of daisies and sunflowers from behind his back. His smile widens as the blush in her cheeks deepens and travels. 

She watches as his eyes trace the path of her blush, from her cheeks to her neck, and finally down to her chest. “You...you look beautiful, Penelope.” He thrusts the flowers towards her and into her open hand.

Her knees shake as she steps back from the door to let him in. Lucky for her, her date is watching her every movement and grabs onto her elbow before she can tumble backwards. She smiles up at him as he steadies her. “Thank you, Luke.”

Luke loosens his grip on her arm and closes the door behind him. “No problem, chica.” 

Penelope walks into her kitchen to grab a vase, pausing before the tall cabinet by her sink. She can feel Luke’s gaze on her as she leans up on her toes to reach for the vase on the highest shelf. 

“Penelope, can I get that for you?” he asks from behind her, his mouth close to her ear. 

Her whole body jumps from his sudden nearness and she sputters, “you - you can’t do that, Luke!” She turns around to face him, her arms crossing over her chest. 

He touches her elbow and steps in next to her to retrieve the vase. He sets the vase down on the counter between them and turns his face to her, a shadow of a smirk on his lips. “What did I do now?” 

She tries so hard to stop herself, but she just can’t control her body. She stomps her foot and scowls at him. “You scared the bejeezus out of me!”

Luke chuckles, turning his body towards her until his hip is pressed against the counter. “You’ve only been gone from the BAU for a week. This is what scares you now?” He motions to himself. 

“I’ll have you know, Luke Alvez, I’m fighting against bad guys every day. Just because they’re big corporations, doesn’t mean I…I...” she stutters to a stop when he slides his hand across the counter and runs his thumb over the knuckles of her outstretched hand. 

“I know you’re still tough,” he assures her, his hand now resting over hers, “you’re one of the toughest people I know.”

“Oh.” She lights up. “Right!”

“Alright hotshot, don’t let it go to your head.” Luke taps her middle knuckle with his thumb before pushing himself off the counter. “You ready to go eat?” 

“Eat? Oh right, eat, yes...yeah I’m ready.” She finally looks up from the counter to find him grinning. “Where are we going?”

His eyes shine with mischief and he shrugs. “Top secret information, only for those that need to know, and you Penelope don’t need to know.” 

She glares at his back as he exits her apartment, his entire body shaking from his barely contained laughter. “Newbie,” she mutters under her breath as she grabs her coat and locks up.

He’s waiting for her across the hall and in front of the elevator, watching her as she walks towards him, his smile hidden behind his hand. “Can I at least have a hint?” she asks, sidling up next to him to wait for the elevator.

He contemplates his answer for a moment, his thumb and index finger stroking his chin. “You’re going to love it.” 

“Oh! Is it that new Thai place down the road from your place?”

“No.”

“It must be the new Indian restaurant by the office.”

“No.”

“I’ve got it…”

Luke takes hold of her hand and tugs her into the elevator with him. He hits the button for the garage before turning to her. “Penelope, no.” 

He looks serious. She brings her thumb and index finger together in front of her mouth, zipping her lips closed. “Humf.”

“Ha! We both know this isn’t going to last.” He’s leering at her as he brings her closer by pulling at her hand. He tips his head down towards her neck and she can feel his breath against her ear. “If you let me surprise you, I might get you a treat later.”

She tamps down on her bottom lip with her teeth to prevent the moan she knows is coming. How embarrassing, he breathes on her neck and she can hardly contain her lust. “Don’t tease me if you aren’t going to appease me.”

He hasn’t moved his mouth from next to her ear, and his warm breath against the side of her neck is doing things to her that it’s not appropriate to mention on a first date. She’s very thankful when the elevator reaches the garage, even more so when he whispers, “oh, you’ll be pleased.”

He hasn’t let go of her hand as they exit the elevator and make their way to his truck and she’s not sure she ever wants him to. It feels so natural to be touching him like this. 

Luke shakes their joined hands. “Penelope.”

She looks up from the floor and startles when she realizes that they’re in front of his truck. She turns to Luke with an embarrassed smile and finds him watching her. He looks down to their joined hands before returning his gaze to her, the corner of his mouth turning up. 

“Oh sorry.” Her cheeks heat up and she pulls her hand from his, disappearing to the other side of the truck. 

She hears him sigh as she opens the passenger door. She grabs onto the handle before jumping up and pulling herself up onto the seat as gracefully as possible. 

She can feel the shift of the seat as he gets in, but she doesn’t look up. She’s too busy tugging at her dress - it got a little lopsided during her little gymnastics routine she had to do to get in there.

He starts up the truck and she finally glances over at him. She’s happy to find him preoccupied; he’s looking over his shoulder as he backs out of the parking spot and it gives her time to look him over. She lingers on the way his black button-down hugs his chest and abdomen, only moving along when she sees him switch gears. She does a quick check of his lower half, finding him in grey dress slacks and shiny black shoes.

Luke brushes a finger against her bare arm and a chill runs through her. She looks down at the center console to find his hand there, palm up. She moves her hand into his and laces their fingers together, feeling more settled with the physical contact. 

Her phone buzzes from her purse in her lap. She takes it out with her free hand and sees a text from JJ asking how the date is going. She laughs and puts the phone back into her purse without replying. 

“What’s so funny?” Luke turns to her for a moment before refocusing on the road. 

She shrugs, her lips pursed as she turns to look at him. “Oh just telling JJ how awful our first da- dinner is.”

He sucks in a deep breath and brings their joined hands to his chest and over his heart. “You wound me!”

Penelope rolls her eyes and pulls their hands back to rest against the console. She turns her body and leans against the console. “I might give you a rave review if you tell me where we’re going.” She bats her eyelashes as she stares at his profile. 

He looks at her out of the corner of his eye and chuckles. “Not a chance.”

“Spoilsport.”

He flips his blinker on and pulls onto a side street. “Why would I ruin a perfectly good surprise when we’re almost there?”

She moves to look out the window, but doesn’t recognize the building they’re pulling up behind. “Where on earth are we?”

Luke puts the truck in park and unbuckles his seatbelt before letting go of her hand. “Come on and I’ll show you.”

They walk hand in hand around the truck until Penelope stops dead in her tracks, pulling Luke to a halt as she looks up. “So pretty.” The sky is lit up by what looks like thousands of tiny white lights strung from a number of oak trees. There’s a small wooden dance floor in the middle of the lights and a bar tucked off to the side, but nobody is dancing. 

“Wait until you see inside,” he tells her with a grin.

He wasn’t wrong. The restaurant is noisy, but beautiful. The lights are dim, and the tables are filled with groups of people, all laughing and sharing from large pitchers of an orange concoction. The tables are brimming with an assortment of colorful dishes and it all smells divine. 

She lets him lead them to their table as she takes it all in. She can hear the majority of the patrons speaking in Spanish and she tries to pick out pieces of the conversations as she walks by. 

Their waiter is standing behind a chair and motions for her to sit. She takes a seat and Luke takes the chair across from hers.

“Si, con aguardiente por favor,” Luke tells the waiter, holding up two fingers. He turns his attention to Penelope when the waiter leaves to get their drinks. “Don’t worry, you’ll like it. It’s sweet. It’s the Colombian drink of choice.”

She nods before picking up her menu and opening it up. “What do you recommend?” she asks, studying the menu that’s written in Spanish. “I’ve never tried Colombian food before.” 

He moves his hand over her menu and pushes it down a little until she looks up. “I know you might hate this and think I’m being all macho and annoying, but let me order for us?”

Her eyes narrow as she peers at him over the menu. “What if I don’t wa-”

“Please?”

She closes her menu and sets it off to her side. “I probably would have ordered a pig hock or something anyway.”

He laughs and sets his menu down as well, watching her as she takes a sip of water, his eyes focused on her mouth. “I’m glad you said yes, Penelope.”

She takes another sip of water before meeting his gaze. “Me too.”

The waiter takes their menus and places a pitcher of the orange concoction in the middle of the table with two glasses before turning to Luke. She hears bits and pieces of the order, but her focus is on pouring the orange liquid into the two glasses without spilling. 

She moves one of the glasses in front of Luke and takes the other. When the waiter leaves to put their order in she raises her glass towards Luke. “What shall we toast to?” 

Luke raises his glass and clinks his with hers. “To new experiences?”

“To new experiences.” She takes a sip of her drink, closing her eyes as the citrusy liquid slides over her tongue.

“You like it?” 

She opens her eyes to find Luke staring at her. She could swear that his eyes are darker than before, but the lighting in the restaurant is so dim that her eyes are probably playing tricks on her. 

She takes another sip before answering. “It’s delicious!” 

Penelope watches his adams apple bob as he takes another drink. Who knew that an adams apple could be so hot? 

“Tell me about your first week at the new job?” he asks, setting his glass down and leaning forward. 

Her face lights up. “It’s so fantastic, Luke. You were right, working for a non-profit is all the good stuff without the gore.”

She can see him gripping the edge of the table as she explains her favorite parts of the new job, so she throws him a bone. “I’m happy to have a lot of independence now. I can’t imagine ever working with a team as closely as I did at the BAU.”

His left eyebrow lifts up. “I thought you loved working with a team, Pen.” He scoots in closer to the table and reaches his arm across the table, palm up. 

She shakes her head as she places her hand in his, careful to avoid knocking over any glasses. “I loved working with OUR team, our family.”

He squeezes her hand. “Do you regret leaving?”

“No, no I don’t regret it. I’m happy there and I still get to see the team, and I get to be - I get to be here.” She ducks her head, her blush warming her cheeks.

“Yeah?” He grins across the table at her, his thumb stroking her hand.

Penelope looks up and their eyes meet across the table. “Yeah, definitely yeah.” She wants to tell him how much she’s wanted this for so long, explain to him how hard it was to not be doing this for several years now. She wants to lurch across the table and grab onto his face and show him that she’s been thinking about this every day and night for who knows how long. But, before she can make a fool of herself by describing in detail just how much she’s wanted to be right here, the food arrives. 

Her eyes widen as their waiter starts to load their table with dishes. The pair have to pull their hands from the table to make room, as he places plates of rice and vegetables, plantains, empanadas in varying sizes, and something that looks like a bread pocket stuffed with beans. 

“Do you need to know what anything is?” the waiter asks as he stands beside their table, gesturing at the food. 

“Gracias pero no,” Luke tells him, handing Penelope a plate. He points to the empanadas. “A couple of these are just cheese, a couple are stuffed with plantains and cheese, and a couple have cheese and vegetables.” He moves his hand over the bread pockets. “These are arepas. One has chickpeas and vegetables with cheese and the other has black beans, cheese, and peppers.”

She looks over all the dishes with a smile. “They’re all vegetarian?”

Luke pushes the empanadas towards her. “Of course, chica. Please try a little bit of everything?”

She looks at him as he takes a little bit of everything and places it onto his plate. She opens her mouth and closes it quickly, repeating the movement a couple of times before speaking finally, “I just...thank you, Luke.”

She places an empanada on her plate, a couple of flattened plantains, and the arepa with chickpeas. She’s unsure as to how to eat the arepa so she digs into the empanada first. The cheese practically oozes out of the dough as she cuts it into pieces, a couple of bits of pepper and onion in every bite.   
“Oh my God, this is amazing.” Penelope sets her fork down as she chews on the empanada and a piece of plantain together. “How have I never been here before?”

Luke picks up the arepa with black beans in his hands, holding it like a sandwich. He pauses at his mouth. “I was hoping you hadn’t been.”

“You were purposefully keeping this from me, huh?” she teases, nudging his foot with hers under the table. 

He shrugs before taking a bite of his arepa. Even his chewing is sexy. “I was hoping to take you here on our first date. I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”

Her mouth falls open. “You had thought about our first date for a while now?”

“Yes, I have been. Probably too long.” He grimaces before taking another bite of his arepa. 

She’ll leave that alone...for now. Penelope picks up her arepa, mirroring Luke. She takes a tentative bite, her mouth barely fitting around the corn pocket. The chickpeas pop in her mouth and the flavors of the arepa explode on her tongue, and she’s left sighing contently in her seat. 

The table shakes and she looks over at Luke as he rocks from side to side in his seat. He sounds almost out of breath as he asks, “must you moan every time you take a bite of something new?”

She quickly covers her mouth to chew, praying none of her food escapes as she laughs. Once she’s done, she removes her hand and grins. “Am I bothering you?” 

He waves her off and grabs his drink, taking a long sip. Her eyes are on him as he runs his tongue across his lower lip to get the non-existent drop of liquid off. “You know exactly what you’re doing.”

She takes a drink of the sweet orange beverage, appraising him. He’s scooted lower in his seat and his eyes are focused on her. She tilts her head to the right, her lips pursed to prevent her smile. “Whatever do you mean?”

Luke shakes his head and motions to the food. “Eat. It’s almost time.”

She spears a piece of plantain and empanada. “Time for what?”

He smirks. “You’ll see.”

She knows better than to ask, because she knows he won’t tell her, so she goes back to her dinner. 

The two are nearly finished with their plates and about halfway through their drinks when the music inside the restaurant stops. The tables start to clear of patrons and Penelope looks over at Luke. “Are they closing?”

He smiles and reaches out to her as he stands up from the table. “No. They’re just moving outside to the bar.”

“Oh.” She places her hand in his and lets him pull her up beside him. She looks to her right and out the window to see couples moving onto the dance floor. “Oh!” She reaches for her glass and finishes the contents before her eyes find his. 

“Will you dance with me?” he asks, reaching up with his free hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his thumb lingering on her cheek. 

“Yeah - yeah I’d love to.” 

Penelope follows him outside, her hand in his until they reach the small dance floor. There are six or seven couples already on the wooden platform, all incredibly close together as an older gentleman plays the piano and a young woman croons. 

Luke’s other hand finds her waist. “Is this OK?”

“Yes, it’s very OK.” Penelope moves her hand to his shoulder, squeaking when he pulls her close. 

Their bodies are nearly touching from head to toe as he moves her around the floor. His breath tickles the side of her neck as each exhale stirs her hair against her skin. She wonders if he can feel the goosebumps through the thin fabric of her dress. 

He takes that moment to dip her backwards, his hand at her waist sliding around to her lower back. He pulls her up with their joined hands and his arm around her back until she’s standing upright again, but his hand doesn’t retreat back to her waist. “Penelope.”

Penelope looks up at Luke, wetting her bottom lip when she notices his face getting closer. “Lu-” His mouth touches hers, just a whisper of a kiss until she responds. She only has to press up a little on the toes of her high heels until her mouth is securely pressed against his.

It’s everything. 


End file.
